Formed in Bordeaux, France, during the fall of 2001 by energetic front-woman Caroline Martial and keyboardist Orion Bouvier, Kap Bambino didn't wait for the burgeoning indie dance scene to embrace the duo before they starting putting out their eight-bit noise dance records. Devotion (BEC 5161120), their fourth album, was recorded as though played for the first time, and there was no second take; each task is executed with a sense of urgency; each decision is made with excess. Includes mp3 download code.

Devotion, Kap Bambino's fourth album, is based on a few simple rules: each song is recorded as though played for the first time, and there was no second take; each live show is played as if it was the final one; each task is executed with a sense of urgency; each decision is made with excess; all the indicators are in the red. To understand the duo you need to let go of moderation. Try to capture them: it's too late, they're already far away. Like a permanent crash in the sound barrier. Eternal youth with almost 10 years behind them. The story begins with Orion aka GroupeGris in Bordeaux, France, with the creation in 2001 of the label Wwilko, a shelter for scummy bands. Orion, who already has a reputation in the hardcore scene, also self-produces some material and Kap Bambino is one of his obscure side projects. Caroline aka Khima France, circles the vicinities until she manages to establish herself permanently. Their reputation as punk weirdoes, bellowing nut-jobs and decibel hellcats grew rapidly. Since the beginning, Caroline Martial and Orion Bouvier chose the concealed path of the beginnings of hardcore. Orion, the playful nerd and Caroline, the whirling fury plugged themselves into a highly-charged current with the unique goal to create havoc. The entourage of modern musicians -- manager, promoter -- that they developed along the way, shows their self-sufficiency and preserved amateurism. Throughout their 12"s and albums -- Kap Bambino in 2002, Love in 2003, Zero Life, Night Vision in 2006, Blacklist (BEC 5772501) in 2009, Devotion in 2012 -- the band has nourished an outburst of sequences and screams: punk in the digital era. The years have brought some softness to certain melodies, but the sugar comes from a mine and is mixed with gravel. No intelligible lyrics that we might sing along to, no chorus, no surfing on electro trends, no guitar-drum combo on stage to pretend it's rock. Anorak-trash, emo-tuning, white ghetto, trendy skateboard, Satanic pop, their music is made for the youth of the OECD, as lost as all the post-war generations. Kap Bambino isn't the first nihilistic band, but in their consistency and the logic of their productions, their vitality, their integrity and their modern vagabond romanticism, they have very few rivals.

Kap Bambino is a stampeding punk-rock juggernaut. Unlike most assaults of lawless rock'n'roll ideals, it's not powered by guitars, or rather any live instruments whatsoever. The empowering eruption of frenzied discordance, space invader sucker-punch beats and caterwauling incantations conjured by the Bordeaux duo of Caroline Martial and Orion Bouvier, is the result of harnessing the unruly spirit of bands like Suicide and Nirvana, then feeding it through a tangled web of samplers, synthesizers and software modules.

2009 release. "Batcaves" is taken from Blacklist, the third album from Kap Bambino, now presented here in an impressive remix package. Jackson sends the original on a suspense-laden joyride, while Bobmo turns it into a club number guaranteed to get hands in the air. To round things off, you'll find a scuzzy cover from Hello Sunshine and a twisted house spin on the original by Orion himself under his remix alias, Maton.

Dead Lazers is the second single to be taken from Kap Bambino's third album Blacklist. It's another slice of deranged noise-pop from the Bordeaux duo Caroline Martial and Orion Bouvier -- all maddening melodies and propulsive head-nod rhythms. This latest offering from the analog punk pairing finds frontwoman Caroline's vocals at their most jagged, insolently attacking the sensory system, backed up by a blitzkrieg of synths and drumbeats.

2009 release. Kap Bambino's third album, Blacklist makes some bold and brave moves. Perhaps the biggest curveball they could have thrown would be to go pop, which is just what they've done -- well, kind of. Blacklist is 12 tracks of deranged, maddening melodies and propulsive head-nod rhythms, taking the group's trademark concoctions and placing them amidst a setting that wouldn't look out of place in a stadium or headlining a festival. Caroline's vocals are brought center-stage and never have they sounded so clear, crisp and defiant, while Orion's production alchemy sounds like the work of a regal orchestra of androids, soundtracking an Armageddon-inducing war. Unlike most assaults of lawless rock'n'roll ideals, Kap Bambino's sound is not powered by guitars, or rather any live instruments whatsoever. The empowering eruption of frenzied discordance, space invader sucker-punch beats and caterwauling incantations conjured by the Bordeaux duo, Caroline Martial and Orion Bouvier, is the result of harnessing the unruly spirit of bands like Suicide and Nirvana, then feeding it through a tangled web of samplers, synthesizers and software modules. The result is a more immediate, more kinetic and more inspiring show than you witnessed from any of the baggy-shorted buffoons 2009 tried to throw up as punk-rockers. Housed in a gatefold sleeve.